Loshore
A satellite state of both Lighthaven and Snelblum, Loshore holds power over the dunes on the peninsula behind the treacherous Folkloss Jungles. It is the main passageway into the eastern archipelago-nation of the Reinfeld Coalition and an important mercantile hub. Still, the country is difficult to reach, even for ships. An old sailor is more than happy to introduce me to his old turf. Loshore As Described by Chorus Bakker Visiting Loshore itself is a great investment. Although Snelblum has a teleportation circle that leads to it, it is reserved for trading wares; personal travel requires shifting the shipment schedule and costs a significant sum of money. As such, instead of visiting the sandy finger of Huran myself, I’ve asked Chorus Bakker, once a merchant sailor for the nation, to tell me about his old home. “Do you know what led to the creation of Loshore?” At first, exploration. It was popular back then, and no one knew what was beyond the Folkloss Jungles. So some fool went on a boat and sailed the coast until he found someplace that wasn’t infested with thick trees and mad savages. And so, Loshore was discovered. After some quarrel with the Reinfeld Coalition over some islands, as, you know, we were right next to them and they didn’t like us taking over their islands. It was eventually settled, after which we got to develop the country. Set up a nice, big wall across the border of the jungle, have a few towns, and then we were are ease. Loshore wasn’t very troubled by those Goblins from Oftspoke, they could barely make a ship drift and would die the moment they stepped into the Folkloss. Fiends, on the other hand, were nearly our end. Those hoofed and toothed beasts could fly and teleport, we didn’t stand a chance. For us, the invasion lasted a few years longer than the rest of Huran, and Lighthaven just bloody ignored us. We eventually got aid in the form of a damned dragon burning the demons to a crisp, which indebted us to Dragonhearth. Can’t say it’s a bad thing though, at least they helped us out unlike our supposed ‘Queen’. “What’s it like there, any differences from its head states?” It’s comparable to Kariston, the city north of Lighthaven. Lots of military, lots of defending the border. There’s this large cave system under Loshore where monsters tend to come out of, so even in the inland you’re never truly safe. We’ve kinda resorted to the Reinfeld Coalition’s more… free, way of believing. We ditched the Church of the Wolf and its corrupt officers in favour of our own Spirits, which has worked out pretty well. When you live in Loshore, you are expected to at least be able to do two things: fight, and protect. We are the bridge between one continent and the other, as well as the only outpost of our own nation beyond the Folkloss Jungles. We may not mean much to the rest of the world, but we damn-well fight for our right to exist. “What’s others’ thoughts on Loshore?” Snelblum’s still overly interested in the mercantile side of our location. They set up this nice portal and all, only to send us their trash so we can sell it to the next nation over. Lighthaven meanwhile probably forgot about us, so we haven’t spoken to them at all in the past few years. We’re in the pish end of the world, so that Rogue King’s people are in very small numbers here. We tolerate them, as long as they help in the society, so I guess our relationship with them is neutral. The Reinfeld Coalition is not much different from Snelblum. They want to mostly trade with us, and are keen of keeping us out of their inner islands. Dragonhearth is really our only ally, at this point. They are around not to trade or get something from us, but to actually protect us. It is a luxury I wish we had sooner. “Are there any noteworthy places in Loshore?” You’re joking, right? Asking about interesting places in the most isolated and decrepit estate of Huran? We’ve got Stonekar, our military foothold at the edge of the Folkloss. Then there’s Epicar, which is a small port where that teleportation circle is located. Technically Loshore owns another entire island before entering Reinfeld territory, but it’s mostly one big trading route between two Elven cities. The Underdark section of Loshore is somewhat interesting, I guess. It’s the only entrance to the Hollows for literally hundreds of miles, and I’m not even sure if it connects to the more populated system in the west, since I’ve rarely encountered Shadow folk in there.